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Grand Teton National Park

This year marks a milestone in the management of the Greater Yellowstone Area. It starts the second 50 years of the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee (GYCC), created by the United States Forest Service (USFS) and the National Park Service (NPS) in 1964.

I have never been much of a landscape photographer and am ashamed to admit that during my first visits to Grand Teton National Park, where the views don’t get any better, I only had eyes for the close up shots of the bears.

Human encroachment, elk feedlots, and climate change increasing are puttin pressure on the survival of grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, and the annual elk reduction hunt at Grand Teton National Park is an unnecessary stressor that is impacting the bears' survival in the ecosystem, according to a lawsuit filed against the National Park Service, Interior Department, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

National park concessionaires, deeply concerned over what they see as three decades of stagnant visitation to the National Park System, want Congress to authorize better marketing of the parks, longer "high" seasons in the parks they believe would generate more revenues for infrastructure improvements, and expanded concessionaire opportunities in the parks.

For the next five weeks you can enjoy traveling the Teton Park Road in Grand Teton National Park by bike, roller-blades or skis, or simply walking. The road has melted down to pavement in most places and is now open to non-motorized recreation.

The plows will be out in Grand Teton National Park on Monday as road crews begin their annual spring plowing of the Teton Park Road from Taggart Lake parking area to Signal Mountain Lodge. As plowing operations get under way, recreation on this winter trail will cease for the season.

Reflections are fascinating and intriguing; they can amplify the colors and beauty of a scene, or provide a unique and original perspective on it. I love photographing reflections of landscapes in nature - from a stunning lake, to a small pond, pool, or even a puddle.

Across the National Park System, the National Park Service has an estimated half-a-billion-dollars of obligations owed concessionaires who run lodges, restaurants, and even some activities. It's a sum that, while agency officials say it's manageable, has seemingly stifled concessions competition in some parks and diverted tens of millions of dollars from others to reduce debts.

The view from atop the Grand Teton is incredible. To the west, the Jedediah Smith Wilderness stands. To the north, Yellowstone National Park. To the east, Jackson Hole, with the moraine that is Timbered Island so very well defined. If you haven't climbed to the top of the 13,770-foot peak in Grand Teton National Park yet, or can't, you can still enjoy the view.